God's army has plans to run the whole Middle East  —  Hezbollah, the group at the heart of the Lebanese conflict, is the spearhead of Iran's ambitions to be a superpower, says Iranian commentator Amir Taheri  —  'You are the sun of Islam, shining on the universe!

Conspiracy Theories 101  —  Andes, N.Y.  —  KEVIN BARRETT, a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has now taken his place alongside Ward Churchill of the University of Colorado as a college teacher whose views on 9/11 have led politicians and ordinary citizens to demand that he be fired.

No More Joe  —  `Dead Wrong' On The War And Defense Of Bush, White House Excesses  —  Joe Lieberman and I have been friends and colleagues for 38 years.  We ran for and won seats in the Connecticut legislature as a team of reformers in 1970.  He was my state senator and I was his state representative.

Fatah: Hamas ready to accept deal on ceasefire, release of Shalit  —  Senior Fatah sources in Gaza said on Saturday that Hamas is ready to accept a deal that involves freeing abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, a joint cease-fire and an end to IDF actions in the Gaza Strip.

Six Questions on the Bush Administration and the Middle East Crisis for Wayne White  —  Wayne White, now an Adjunct Scholar with Washington's Middle East Institute, was Deputy Director of the State Department's Office of Middle East and South Asia Analysis until March 2005.

U.S. says its troops unlikely to be part of peacekeeping force  —  U.S. President George W. Bush's chief of staff said Sunday that international peacekeepers might be needed in Lebanon to help end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants, but that U.S. troop involvement was unlikely.

He Said/He Said  —  Hey, did you hear what Glenn Greenwald...  Jealous much?  —  It's Glenn Greenwald!  —  That's right.  I've written a New York Times bestselling book on executive authority, broken a story on my blog about wiretapping that led to front-page stories on most major newspapers …

ACLU Sues for Anti-Gay Group That Pickets at Troops' Burials  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas church group that protests at military funerals nationwide filed suit in federal court, saying a Missouri law banning such picketing infringes on religious freedom and free speech.

American Landis wins Tour de France  —  PARIS - The highs and lows of Floyd Landis' nail-biter of a bike race ended without a hitch Sunday as he won the Tour de France and kept cycling's most prestigious title in American hands for the eighth straight year.  —  The 30-year-old Landis …

Judge Orders Teen to Cancer Treatment  —  A judge ruled Friday that a 16-year-old boy fighting to use alternative treatment for his cancer must report to a hospital by Tuesday and accept treatment that doctors deem necessary, the family's attorney said.  —  The judge also found Starchild …

With Insurance Policy Comes Membership  —  Unbeknown to Some, Those Signing Up With Firm Are Joining Conservative Group  —  In 2001, Jennifer B. Chace heard an insurance broker's pitch for a new insurance company marketing tax-free medical savings accounts.

Buckley: Bush Not A True Conservative  —  In Exclusive Interview, Buckley Criticizes President For Interventionist Policies  —  (CBS) President Bush ran for office as a "compassionate conservative."  And he continues to nurture his conservative base — even issuing his first veto this week against embryonic stem cell research.

Josh Bolten squirms during Stem Cell questions  —  I doubt Josh Bolten will be back on MTP anytime soon.  I'll post more of his appearance, but Timmeh made Bush's stem cell veto laughable and indefensible,  —  Video-WMP Video-QT (9 min)  —  Once Tony Snow called it murder-it was downhill from there as it should be.

I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors  —  The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts …

Bar association task force urges Congress to push for judicial review of Bush signing statements  —  George W. Bush did not invent the document known as the presidential signing statement; he inherited it.  Franklin Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, and even James Monroe, in 1830, authored the statements …